Collar
by Tie-dyed Trickster
Summary: No one will ever give her a collar. It's one of the very few things Hinata Hyuuga is certain of in her life. (D/s universe based on Safety in the Storm by AgentMalkere, no sex, amazingly enough)
1. Chapter 1

Set in the same universe as AgentMalkere's fic Safety in the Storm, this fic mixes D/s dynamics with a touch of A/B/O dynamics (mainly the genetic factor) with the odd touch that is Malk's own special brand of insanity.

 _ **A little bit of this world's jargon (borrowed directly from AgentMalkere):**_  
 _Dynamic_ \- whether a person is a dom, sub, or switch  
 _Switch_ \- a person who has the mental needs of both a dom and a sub and can act in either role  
 _Soft Spot_ \- a place on a sub's body that makes them feel safe when another person holds it and makes it easier to enter their subspace; dynamic denial in a sub causes their soft spot to become hyper-sensitized

OoOoOoOoO

No one will give her a collar. It's one of the very few things Hinata Hyuuga is certain of in her life. She is an inferior shinobi, she is a bad sub, and no one will ever give her a collar. She should have been born second, none of this would matter as much if she had been born second, if she hadn't been born the heir of the main branch. Sometimes she wishes she could trade lives with her cousin Neji so badly it hurts. Neji is everything she is supposed to be – a prodigy, a dom, a confident shinobi. Everything she's supposed to be as the heir, everything she should _want_ to be. But- but she doesn't. She really, really doesn't. She wants a collar on her neck, and a firm, gentle hand on her left ear, and a quiet strength to protect the ones she loves. She makes the mistake of telling her father this once.

That's the day she finds out that, not only is she a sub, she's a bad one. Because if she can't be a dom naturally, she should at least _want_ to be one, work to be one anyway. But she can't, she _can't_ , her dynamic's too strong, and worse, she doesn't want to. And so the knowledge settles into her stomach like a stone amongst the other stones of bitter truth that make up her life, and she retreats into herself whenever she can.

Graduation day from the academy is bitter-sweet, because she's managed to fool them all; no one realizes that she's a bad sub, that she's useless. And- and she gets her hitae-ate. The sun glints on the metal, shiny silver, almost like a name tag. Almost like- She swallows hard, glances around briefly to make sure no one is watching, then ties the forehead protector loosely around her neck. She's been given this by the village, after all, and shinobi are meant to serve the village, and- and that's almost the same, right? It's not like it will ever be a problem or a conflict. After all, no one will ever give her a collar. And the weight of it around her neck soothes something in her, something deep. That night she even manages to close five of her sparring partner's tenketsu points during practice, and her father does not comment on the placement of her hitae-ate. Maybe he doesn't care. She doesn't care.

(She cares so much sometimes she cries at night, but there's nothing she can do about it).

OoOoOoOoO

"Hey!"

Hinata looks up to see Naruto approaching. Naruto. The sight of him makes her happy, it has since she first saw him when she was little. People had been angry at him, shouting, chasing… and he had been laughing. Laughing and running and brave, brave, brave, and after that she had begun to look for him. And he had been everywhere, slipping in the cracks and the corners, and usually- usually alone. Sometimes (often) she wished she was brave, too, because the adults say that Naruto is bad but she is also bad, and maybe it would be easier… easier for them both… But she never approaches him, not until right before the chunin exams when she wishes him luck. He'd been wearing a grass collar that day (she's seen him making them, when he thinks no one's looking – sometimes he presents them proudly to a nearby rock or tree, sometimes he wears them himself, tearing them off again at whim), and Kurenai had been so nice to her earlier that day…

He had smiled at her.

He had said he liked people like her.

She had almost broken down into tears when he said that, and later she had almost killed herself fighting her cousin, because, for once, Naruto had been watching her, had been cheering for her, telling her to get back up, and she had wanted to impress him, obey him, with every fiber of her being she had wanted to win, not for herself, but for him.

It's been years since then – she's sixteen now, they both are. Her team – Kurenai and Shino and Kiba – have taught her so much since then, have done their best to convince her that she's a good person, and that it's completely natural for a sub to want to be and behave like a sub, but it's hard to forget the words she's been told since she was old enough to understand 'dynamic.' But- she's doing better. And Naruto- Naruto is being seen, at last, by everyone, seen for what he is instead of what they expect him to be. And Hinata's happy for him, though she wishes… wishes she had been able to talk to him when they were both small, when they both needed it so much. (But she had seen him. Even if he doesn't know, even if no one else ever knows… she saw him when he was invisible, when no one else did, and that will always be hers, a little ball of light floating above the stones in her stomach.) He has more friends now; he doesn't need her.

But he's still standing in front of her, fidgeting and nervous and wearing another of his grass collars. He seems to feel her gaze on it, because he starts, then reaches up and pulls it roughly off. "Right, right, I shouldn't have this on-"

"No!" the word pops out of her, involuntary as the aborted hand-grab at her hitae-ate (at her own collar), and Naruto starts a bit. Hinata turns red and looks away, pressing her fingertips together. "I mean- you don't have to. I know you like wearing them sometimes. It's okay, I don't mind." The bright green goes well with all the other vivid colours that combine to form him.

Naruto- Naruto is quiet for a moment. Like he's not sure how to take that entirely or- perhaps he hadn't realized she knew? Perhaps he's embarrassed, she shouldn't have- but he coughs and grins at her before she can get too worked up. "Nah, I didn't mean it like that, I meant, uh. I meant, I probably shouldn't be wearing one for- for- um." He swallows hard, turns pink, then thrusts both his hands out in front of him. "I-was-wondering-if-you-would-go-out-with-me!"

Hinata stares. Naruto's words are full of confusing implications and his hands… his hands are full of flowers, daisies, not a bouquet, a loop, but too small for a crown-

Hinata's hands fly to her mouth and her knees give out.

Naruto instantly panics. "Oh no, did I do it wrong?! I did it wrong, didn't I, was this too forward, I mean, I know it's just a date, but it's not a _collar_ collar, 'cause those are serious, but I _am_ serious and I wanted you to know and I thought this would be a good way and…" he peters out, dejected and worried. "Are you mad at me?"

She can't talk. All her stones have jumped up and lodged in her throat, and her little ball of light is glowing so bright it feels like she must be glowing, but she can't talk and Naruto needs an answer… With fumbling fingers, she carefully reaches up and unties her hitae-ate, then gathers her hair and holds it away from her neck, inviting.

It takes Naruto a moment to figure out what she's asking, what she's offering, but when he does his entire face lights up, and he kneels down to carefully fasten the flower collar around her neck.

OoOoOoOoO

 _I just spent four days talking about the potential culture of this world with Malkere and, dammit, I am WEAK to culture!_


	2. Chapter 2

The Inuzuka clan does not approach collars the way the majority of Konoha, ninja and civilian alike, approach them. Hinata learns this the first time she visits the Inuzuka compound with Shino, invited over to supper by their third teammate, and discovers that almost every grown Inuzuka within sight is wearing one. Her first, confused, thought is that she hadn't known that there _was_ a clan _anywhere_ made up entirely of subs. Her second, recriminatory, thought is that she should not judge, there is nothing wrong with two or more subs being in a relationship, Kurenai and her teachers at the academy _said_ (no matter what common bias is). Her third, analytical, thought is that she is not confused because she is judging, she is confused because she should have heard if her assumption is correct – if nothing else her father would have surely said something when he learned Kiba is her teammate. She has stumbled upon something she does not know about; she should acquire more information – a good kunoichi is a well-informed kunoichi.

…sometimes knowing what you should do is harder than doing it, especially when questions regarding dynamic have been discouraged most of your life. So she bites her lip and presses her fingertips together, trying to find the courage to ask-

"It's a solidarity thing!"

She looks up to see Kiba grinning at her before making a circling motion at his own neck.

"The collars – we wear 'em because our ninken hafta wear 'em, it's the law, even though they're ninja helpers, not pets, and our nin-dogs are our equals. So we all wear collars, because we're all part of the same pack!"

"You're not wearing one," Shino points out, direct in a way Hinata quietly admires.

Kiba's proud stance wilts as he shoots Shino a petulant look. "I'm _twelve_ , and the stupid village _laws_ say it's _illegal_ to wear a real one before you're sixteen, even for clan stuff."

"Um, um," Hinata blanches as her teammates turn to look at her, every instinct screaming for her to drop her eyes before continuing, everything that has been drilled into her by her father and clan elders demanding she maintain eye contact. She compromises as best she can, staring at their chests, as high as she can force herself to go, because she knows about this, it's _important_ , "The law is because of old clan practices. Arranged collarings. Between very young children and adults. The law was to stop that."

There is a moment of quiet, exactly long enough for her to consider how much her teammates are probably annoyed with her, which is broken when Kiba says, "Oh." A quick glance shows that he seems to actually be thinking about what she's said and not angry at all. "Yeah, that's gross," he agrees after another moment, "But Inuzuka collars aren't like that, it's just a clan tradition! They should make an exception for clan traditions."

"If they did that, some clans might say that the arranged collarings were one of their traditions, and make it hard to stop them," Shino speaks up, quiet but sure, then turns to Hinata. "That wasn't covered at the Academy. Why do you know about it?"

It- She- ( _she can't she can't she can't, angry white eyes, 'should have kept that practice, then you'd be use-', her angry cousin, who hates who hates who hates he-_ )

"Never mind."

She looks up in shock as Shino turns away, showing a quick, apologetic flash of neck before he turns to Kiba.

"Which house is yours? I'm hungry."

That is the day she learns that Shino is intimidating and a little creepy, but he is not cruel. That is the day she learns that the Inuzuka are loud and welcoming and live up to every single bit of their reputation for friendliness.

That is the day that she first learns that wearing a collar can bring as much pride as placing one on someone.

(If reincarnation is real, if they let you choose, she thinks, that night, it might be nice to be reborn an Inuzuka.)

OoOoOoOoO

Three and a bit years later, and Kiba is running down the path to training ground 17, Team 8's favorite for practicing group combinations. His customary jacket is temporarily gone, presumably to make it easier to see the clan collar he's finally got around his neck. "Hey, guys – check out who's _finally_ sixteen!"

Shino makes a noncommittal sound, but his kikaichu give him away, buzzing slightly with excitement in a tell he hasn't quite managed to get control over yet. Hinata smiles, eyes on her toes, hands in her pockets, one fingering the scroll she's got prepared (even Inuzuka noses can't smell beef knuckles that have been carefully hidden in a scroll (because, as she has learned, while Kiba very much likes getting presents for himself, he _loves_ when people get things for Akamaru (though this hasn't stopped her from also getting a little bottle of stuff that Kurenai _assures_ her is good for keeping collars subtle))). She has been quietly worrying about how she'd react when Kiba finally got his clan collar for a long time now, how she'd react to a good friend getting any version of something she has wanted so very much for so very long, and which she had been convinced for even longer that no one would ever give her. There had been a dark fear of impotent jealousy tearing at her, at her team…

However she's finding it easier than she expected to be genuinely happy for Kiba, as he skids to a halt in front of them, when there is a loop of daisies slowly pressing flat and dry in a book at Kurenai's apartment. "What does it mean, that you have one now?" she politely asks, this time well aware of what the answer is, just as she knows that Kiba's absolutely dying to tell them.

"I can sit in on clan meetings that are open to all the adults in the clan," Kiba gleefully seizes the opportunity she's offering, "And I can get an apartment outside the compound if I want or move into one of the Inuzuka houses with some cousins, and I can drink if I'm inside the compound! I hafta start contributing to the clan funds, too, which is less fun, but it's important."

"Each bee contributes to the wellbeing of the hive," Shino agrees, a faint note of reproval in his tone.

"I just said it was important, bug-brain!"

The quiet giggle escapes even as she puts a hand on Shino's arm and hands Kiba his presents.

OoOoOoOoO

 _Beef knuckles are a type of bone for dogs to chew on. Did I completely forget that the Inuzuka ninken don't wear collars in canon? You bet, but I didn't let that stop me – I guess in canon, neither wear them (because they're equals) and here they both wear them (because they're equals)!_


	3. Chapter 3

'Home' is an abstract concept for Hinata when she is young. Yes, she knows what it means, what it refers to, but she does not understand the warmth other people seem to associate with the word. The wistful tone with which they say, 'there's no place like home.' Because the statement is true and, frankly, Hinata is glad of it. Nowhere else in the village is quite like the Hyuuga compound, nowhere else do the stones in her stomach feel quite so heavy and sickening, nowhere else does it feel quite so hard just to be alive.

No, there's no place like home, and Hinata is there as little as her grueling Gentle Fist training allows.

It is not until she becomes a genin that she learns why everyone else fusses over the subject, what she herself has been missing.

OoOoOoOoO

First there is the Aburame clan, with its patterns and habits as much insectoid as human in some ways, but with each person in their place, each a connected piece of a greater whole. It is very structured, very strange, but also very… clean is the only word Hinata can ascribe to it. There is no malice in the words of the Aburames, no resentment in their movements. Theirs is the coldness of efficiency, not cruelty, and it is easy to forget that they rely heavily on living beings beyond themselves, even more deeply than the Inuzuka in some ways. Shino invites her and Kiba to supper after their third D-rank mission as Team 8. Afterwards, he invites them to accompany him for one of his chores.

It is a lesser known fact that the Aburame raise silkworms to supplement their clan income, much as the Yamanaka clan runs a flower shop. One of Shino's jobs is bringing the evening batches of mulberry leaves to crop room twelve, and it is this he invites them to accompany him for.

"I see how it is – first you feed us, then you put us to work," Kiba comments, mostly joking.

Shino glares at him from behind his glasses. "No. But if you're coming with me, you might as well help with the baskets."

Hinata says nothing, just carefully carries her basket and sets the leafy branches where Shino directs her to, then waits when he stops her and Kiba from leaving right after.

"No, this is the good bit."

Kiba rolls his eyes, but ends the stream of chatter he's been letting loose up until this point, and the three of them (plus Akamaru) stand in silence, Hinata and Kiba trying to figure out what they're waiting for when-

"Oh!" Hinata can't help the quiet gasp when she finally registers the sound that has been underlying their own voices all along, and then realizes what it is – the sound of the silkworms munching on mulberry leaves. A moment later she can't help giggling, just a little, because now she's noticed, they're so noisy!

Kiba laughs louder, moving closer to the tables again to get a better look. "It's like when we have my cousins over, only tiny!"

"D-do they chew with their mouths open?" Hinata asks, sending a nervous look to Shino, then the ground, "Is that why they're so loud?"

"I dunno about silkworms, but my cousins do!" Kiba cuts in before Shino can answer, with a big, toothy grin, "You're right, Shino, this is neat!"

Shino stands a little straighter, a note of pride in his voice as he admits, "This is my favorite part of this chore."

They stand in the room a bit longer together, listening to the noisy little larvae.

The next day, Kiba has slices of raw carrot in his lunch, cut unusually in long ovals. "Hey, Hinata, Shino, look – I'm a silkworm!" and he loudly crunches down a couple slices, exaggeratedly opening and closing his mouth as he chews.

Hinata turns a bit pink with secondhand embarrassment, unable to stop the images of what would happen if she were to try something like this in front of her family, but also unable to stop the smile that tugs at the corners of her mouth, because Kiba does look very funny. Manners have been drilled into her with almost as much force as her clan techniques, though, so she can't stop herself from pointing out, "That's very rude."

"It's not rude, it's the silkworm way!" Kiba counters cheerfully, crunching down another slice.

"Then silkworms are very rude," Hinata says before she thinks better of it. Then her eyes widen and her hands fly to her mouth as she remembers Shino is here, and silkworms are part of his family's livelihood, and he had showed them something special to him the previous night- "I- I'm sorry, I didn't-"

Shino interrupts her with the lightest of raps on the head. "That was also very rude," he says, turning back to his own food, "Much like a silkworm."

Hinata stares at him a moment, confused, before surprised laughter bursts out of her, startling her as much as the boys, and Kiba joins in, and even proud, reserved Shino deigns to angle himself so they can see his wide smile behind the collar of his coat.

Silkworm table manners become the first shared joke of Team 8, and the Aburame household is the first one to show her that strictness and a cold demeanor do not have to hide a cold heart. She begins to think 'home' might mean something a little different than she thought it did.

OoOoOoOoO

Second there is the Inuzuka clan, so large and sprawling that they've outgrown their compound and take up a couple apartment blocks around it as well, not the strongest clan around, perhaps, but definitely one of the biggest. Almost certainly the friendliest – the Inuzuka are fierce warriors and terrifying trackers, and they love and laugh just as hard. Dozens of welcomes are called out as Hinata and Shino follow Kiba to his house, explaining about the Inuzuka approach to collars as he goes. And then they've arrived, and Kiba's mother is there to welcome her son's teammates.

Tsume Inuzuka is… an experience. She magnifies all the traits her clan is known for, and it's said she's a dom too wild for any sub, that even her dom partner had been unable to match her and was scared off as a result. With her red eyeshadow and spiked hair, clan collar hanging loose around her neck, not to mention the snarl she has for her son being late, Hinata can believe it, and she quakes in her sandals when those eyes are turned on her. Hinata turns her head to the side and exposes her neck so fast she almost gives herself whiplash, desperate not to earn the ire of this woman.

Thus it is a shock when Tsume drops down to crouch at about eye level with her, a hand turning Hinata's face towards her with a firm but gentle force. "Calm down now, pup, I'm not going to bite. Hmmm," she gives Hinata a thorough once-over, with a sharp sniff to her hair for good measure. Then her expression softens some. "When was the last time you spaced, pup? You're worn to a thread."

Hinata drops her eyes and flushes miserably. When your elders can see through walls and don't approve of your dynamic, there aren't many places it's safe to go nice and deep into subspace… "N-not long ago?" she asks as much as answers, miserable, and ashamed at how miserable she is when her family is trying to help her be better, to be more dom-like and assertive.

"Hmf." Tsume Inuzuka looks like she believes this nowhere near as far as she could throw Hinata (because, frankly, she looks like she could throw Hinata halfway across the village without trying), but what she says is, "I guess you've just had a long day with this irresponsible son of mine, then. Come on, I'll introduce you to Kuromaru and you can have a nice kip before supper. He'll keep you safe, and I'll help you back up if you need it, after."

Her sandals are by the door and they're in a living room before Hinata realizes what's happened, Kiba's cheerful assurance of, "Don't worry, Kuromaru's great!" echoing behind her as Tsume introduces her to an _enormous_ black dog (wolf?) with a white stomach, an eyepatch over his right eye and his left ear completely missing. He is, quite frankly, the most terrifying thing Hinata has seen in her _entire_ life, including the time Uncle Hizashi aimed killing intent at her and the time she was kidnapped.

"Hey there, old man," Tsume says, grinning like she's not walking up to some storybook beast at _least_ as big as Shino is, "Got a pup here I need you to watch over for a bit, so try not to scare her too much."

"No need to worry about that when you're here," the dog replies, to Hinata's surprise, and Tsume laughs from her belly.

"Damn straight! Pup, this is Kuromaru, the best partner a ninja could ask for, and don't you worry – he's an Inuzuka as much as anyone, so he'll make sure no one touches you without your say-so!" she gives Hinata a pat on the shoulder, and then suddenly it's just Hinata and Kuromaru, and she's almost in tears, she's so scared-

"Here now, don't be like that," the giant ninken offers an unexpectedly friendly smile, then rolls on his back, "I don't bite Konoha ninjas, and I had plenty of practice doing this with Hana before her three troublemakers got big enough to keep an eye on her. Come on, pup, use your nose."

It's a direct order, even if it comes from a dog (wolf?), and Hinata's too scared to even _try_ resisting it. So she takes a deep breath in, out, then closes her eyes and focuses on what her nose is telling her. At first, all she can get is the overwhelming smell of DOG before other scents begin to filter through it. Then, slowly, she begins to untangle traces of what must be supper cooking, and people who have been in this room a lot, and just… lots and lots of dog smell. Which isn't scary at all, really, just smelly. And there's no killing intent, no hostile chakra anywhere in the room, just the casual thump-thump of a tail against the floor. She opens her eyes again to see Kuromaru watching her carefully, head tilted so his one eye can see her clearly. Automatically she takes a step more firmly into his field of vision, so he won't get a crick in his neck, and he rolls onto his side, tail thumping a couple more quick beats before he motions to the sofa with his nose.

"There's a blanket on there you can wrap up in, so you don't get fur all over your nice coat – Tsume's a good partner, but she tends to forget that not everyone's as comfortable being covered in our fur as the Inuzukas are. And don't worry; I'm strong enough to carry Tsume, a little thing like you won't be a problem."

This is… one of the strangest things she's ever done, but at this point Hinata's so wrong-footed that it's not until she's standing in front of Kuromaru again, blanket wrapped around her shoulders, that she begins to get nervous. She likes animals, but… curling up with one that can talk? It feels… a little strange. She's _already_ a bad sub, she doesn't want to become a _worse_ one.

Rolling his eye, Kuromaru stands up and walks casually over to her (his shoulder is higher than hers!) and gently noses her to the floor, then circles a few times and curls up around her. "There. Now, just lie down and have a rest, okay? You smell tired, and it's never done the Inuzuka pups any harm."

She's not actually tired, not really, it's been a fairly easy day, and she's not much help to Kiba and Shino yet, but… part of her is. On the inside. And it feels… safe, with Kuromaru's rough fur pressing against her blanket, and no one was watching- no, not even that, an adult had said it was okay…

Slowly, very slowly, she lets her head come to rest, then fully lie on Kuromaru's shoulder, and when it elicits nothing more than a huff of canine laughter and a, "Good pup," she lets her eyes close, lets herself drift down, down, deeper down, deeper than she usually lets herself go, until she's floating, warm and safe…

Coming back up to Tsume's quiet but firm insistence that it was time for supper is… comfortable. She doesn't know how long she's been down, but it doesn't hurt to come back up, like it does sometimes when she has to pull herself out of her subspace, and there's no censure waiting for her when she stretches and offers a nervous smile. Tsume just ruffles her hair lightly and gives a nod of approval, then leads her back to the dining room for a stir-fry that looks like it was made by throwing kunai at the ingredients, but tastes good. For the first time since joining the team, Hinata makes it through an entire conversation without stammering once, and she's even able to laugh when Akamaru displays his stealth skills and eats half of Kiba's supper before Kiba notices.

She remembers to thank Kuromaru before she goes, and the big ninken bumps his head gently against her shoulder.

"Come back any time, pup," Tsume offers with a toothy, friendly smile, "And if you want, I can put a word in a few ears – Kuromaru's not the only ninken in the compound, after all, and we take care of our teammates."

The Inuzukas are wild and fierce and take pride in smelling like their ninken, and when they accept you, you are _part_ , you are _pack_ , an overwhelming rush of acceptance that Hinata is still not quite sure how to process by the time the chunin exams come around. But they are safe. Hot and safe, like the Aburames are cold and safe. And, seated between the two, Hinata thinks she might be beginning to understand what people mean with, 'there's no place like home.'

And that the Hyuuga compound is many things, but 'home' is not one of them.

OoOoOoOoO

At sixteen, 'home' is no longer abstract, and the Hyuuga compound is no longer quite so dangerous. Many things have changed since the chunin exams, and Hinata's acceptability in the eyes of her clan is one of them. She is… still uncertain how she feels about that, about the lengths she had to go to be recognized. Her father she has forgiven, she thinks – she has sought his approval all her life, far too much to not grasp it with both hands the instant it's in her reach. Her cousin, definitely – he has changed since the talk he had with her father after the chunin exams, and he is turning into someone she can truly admire for more than his skill. The rest of her clan… she's not so sure. Her nindo is one of compassion, but it is not _their_ approval she has sought, nor have they ever had a reason for their unkindness beyond disapproval of her dynamic and her less assertive nature. Perhaps one day she will forgive them, she doesn't know. Whatever the case, it no longer makes her feel sick to walk through the gates and into her father's house (not her house, though, even in part (at fourteen, she had applied for and received permission to move into one of the Inuzuka apartment blocks surrounding their compound with some of Kiba's older cousins (two subs and a switch, all uncollared (it is one of the few choices in her life she has never looked back from – regardless of anything else she is to the Hyuuga, she _will not_ be their heir)))).

Her new home is still a little strange at times – chaotic and dog-smelling and a bit wild, even when she and her flat mates are meditating together – but it is one she is proud to bring Naruto back to after his first long-term mission since they've started dating, to hear about his mission and offer him a meal, and maybe a little more. Shinzo, one of her flat mates, waves in greeting when they come in, and his ninken Murasakiko trots to the door to get her head rubbed.

"Ayyyy, Hina-heart, there you are!" Shinzo calls from the doorway to the kitchen, "And you must be Naru-nose – good ta meet'cha! Heard a lot about you from Hina-heart."

' _Naru-nose?'_ Naruto mouths to Hinata in abject confusion, and she murmurs, _'Tokubetsu jounin,'_ in explanation.

"Anyway, let me guess," Shinzo continues before they can say anything else, shooting Hinata a wink, "You wanted to know if you could borrow Murasakiko for a little bit, so you can give spacing with your switch a try?

Hinata turns very, _very_ red (even after all these years among the Inuzuka), because, well… _yes_ , but she hasn't actually _asked_ Naruto if he wants to go that far, they _have_ been going out for awhile now, so it probably won't be a problem, but she'd been planning to go somewhere _private_ and _then_ see if she could broach the subject without fainting.

"Ah, don't let him tease you," Naruto steps in, shifting his stance to something a little more protective in response to her embarrassment, "We don't have to-"

He stops because she's managed to reach out and grab a pinch of his jacket between finger and thumb, and is shaking her head at him while keeping her eyes trained on the floor, face probably glowing it's so red. She still hears the sharp intake of surprised breath her actions elicit, though.

"So you- you _do_ want to-?"

 _Nod nod nod._

"You're not letting him force you or anything?"

 _Shake shake shake._

"You're… comfortable with this?"

 _Nod nod nod._

"Oh."

In the silence that follows, Hinata looks up far enough to see that Naruto has also turned quite red. Laughter interrupts their mutual speechlessness (before they can blush themselves to death, fortunately), and they both turn to see Shinzo watching them with fond amusement.

"Don't worry about it – I have paperwork I need to get done, anyway, and Ude's going to be back soon if you need help coming back up. Besides, Murasakiko likes spending time with you." Walking into the room, he gives Hinata a friendly shoulder bump, "Though I still say you should let us find you a ninken of your own, Hina-heart – you don't have to use Inuzuka techniques for them to be useful. A teeny-beany one, so it can sit in your hood and watch your back when you're not using your kekki genkai!"

"M-maybe when I'm a little older," Hinata allows, before slipping her wrist into Naruto's hand and calling for the purple-eyed ninken to follow them. Shinzo's cheer of "Progress!" follows them into the quiet room Hinata shares with the rest of her flat mates for meditating and spacing as the need takes them. Painted in gentle colours, it's full of soft surfaces and dog hair (because, three Inuzukas and their partners in one apartment), with a couple blankets on a high shelf for Hinata (staying fur-free when living with this clan is futile, but after several years of doing her best to do so anyway, wrapping in a blanket is just part of Hinata's spacing routine (and it's nice and cozy)). She doesn't go for them right away, though, turning to Naruto once they're in the room.

"We- we don't have to if you don't want to, either," she offers, because he never actually got a chance to say if he wanted this or not, "We could go to my room and you can tell me more about your mission instead, if you like."

"Nnnnnnooo?" Naruto somewhere between answers and asks, "Kakashi-sensei's taught me some meditation stuff, so I usually do that, or use a timer and some wards? Never like this, though, _with_ with someone else. You're _sure_ it's okay?"

He's never done this either. He's as nervous as she is. Somehow, the thought makes her feel braver, enough so that she can go and get her favorite blanket, and one for Naruto as well, kneeling to place it beside him before walking over to Murasakiko and turning back to offer him a smile. "Her shoulder is very nice to rest your head on, but it's good to curl against her back, too," she offers.

It doesn't take him long to grab the blanket she's gotten him, or for him to fuss over her a little, making sure she's comfortably settled against Murasakiko's stomach and smoothing her hair a few times before going to lie at the ninken's back. She's not particularly used to being fussed over before she spaces – it's nice; she can see why other subs like it. Listening to Naruto's breathing even out as he lets himself relax, letting the sound send her down as well… it feels warm, safe. It feels like home.

There's no place like home.

OoOoOoOoO

 _The Inuzukas are of the firm, mutual belief that Hinata needs a ninken – everyone (who is an Inuzuka) knows that ninja subs do better when they have a good ninken to keep an eye on them. And a good dom is a better dom if they have a ninken to train and practice with. And, of course, ninken are also great for helping switches keep their internal balance. Really, everyone should have a ninken, they make everything better (scientific confirmation on absolutely any of this not available at this time). ;)_

 _It should also be noted that, in this universe, subs and switches usually meditate if they don't have a dom to send them down/help them enter their subspace and bring them back up again after – the Inuzukas just discovered a super-effective life hack._

Shinzo – heart

Murasakiko – purple girl

Ude – arm

Things I did not know before writing this chapter – Inuzuka clan members are typically named after body parts


	4. Chapter 4

When Hinata is thirteen, she wakes up to pain and voices. The pain she understands very quickly – she has lost her chance to become a chunin this year, and nearly died at the hands of her cousin in the process (and it is this second piece of knowledge that hurts most, because she has always known he hates her (but she had never realized how deeply)). The voices it takes her a bit longer to understand, swimming out of an anesthetic haze as she is, and even once the words make sense, their meaning is strange, confusing.

"-ne of your concern, Inuzuka."

"Bullshit, Hiashi, that is _bullshit_ ," snarls the voice that can only be Tsume, "And I'm not staying out of it anymore just because of 'clan affairs'! You have a week, Hiashi, _one week_ , and if I don't see a change by that time, _so help me_ , I will appeal to the Hokage; we will put fangs on her cheeks, and she will be an Inuzuka, and you will _never touch her again_."

"…you would never succeed," it's her father speaking, and the automatic flinch his voice causes brings more pain than usual because of her wounds (though, there is something unfamiliar in his voice, she can't-), "And even if you did, the Hyuuga elders would never accept it. All you would do is restart the clan wars, after decades of peace, for stealing the Byakugan."

"Oh _please_ , we could care _less_ about your precious bloodline," Tsume sneers, "You think we even _want_ that, that we wouldn't take her even if you sealed her eyes and ability to pass them on? You think we aren't _willing_ to go to war for the sake of one little sub? _I think you don't know very much about my clan, Hyuuga_!"

Hinata manages to crack an eye open in time to see a third person, Shibi Aburame, Shino's father, step forward to put a hand on Tsume's bristling shoulder, his face turned towards Hinata's father.

"Don't think to take this lightly, Hyuuga-san," he says with the same quiet firmness his son is learning, "Your clan is powerful, respected, valued… but it is not well-liked, and it is not large. The Uchiha were far more numerous, but they were not well-liked either, and who mourns them for more than their eyes now that they are dead? Should it come to it, the Aburame clan will side with the Inuzuka."

"Yeah, just see how far a popularity contest gets you in this, Hiashi!" Tsume speaks up again with terrifying glee, "I might not come from a noble clan like you two, but the Inuzuka are many, and we know _everyone_ somehow or other! And I know for a _fact_ that we get along better with the Akimichi than you do. They'll side with us, and they'll bring the Naras and the Yamanakas with them!"

" _No_."

The word is quiet – it's barely a word at all, more of a cough from her abused lungs, but it might as well have been screamed for how suddenly the adults' attention is now on her. Sitting up hurts, even with whatever they've given her for the pain, but she has fought her cousin, and, even though she lost, she has found that she is still stronger than she had believed. She sits up and she faces them.

"No," she repeats, as firmly as she can, "We- we're ninja of Konohagakure. We _protect_ the village. And- I'm not worth i-"

"That is wrong." These words are also quiet, but Hiashi Hyuuga can make quiet as loud as a whip crack. For once, however, a look other than disappointment or annoyance crosses his face when she falls silent at his interruption, a shadow she cannot name as he steps around Tsume (ignoring her indignant snarl), and comes to stand by Hinata's bed, "You are wrong," he says, staring down at her with eyes she has never learned to read, "As I have been wrong. The Inuzuka is correct – you are very much worth fighting for."

It feels like something in Hinata breaks when she hears this, a sharp _crack_ deep inside, as though one of the stones of doubt and fear she carries in her stomach has broken in two… "No," it is barely a whisper, but still she is saying it, "I'm not. Not if it breaks the village. Not if it hurts the people- I am a kunoichi of Konoha," she stares up at her father, at Tsume and Shibi, willing them to understand, wishing she could say this with dry eyes. "I love my village. I don't want to see it hurt because of me."

The three adults are silent for a moment, perhaps waiting to see if she will say more, but when it becomes clear she is finished, her father speaks again.

"The Hyuuga are wielders of the Gentle Fist style," he replies, "I should have seen sooner that gentleness outside of that is not the same as weakness. Blindness is intolerable among our clan, but that is what I have been, and in doing so I have caused more damage than I realized. I have been wrong." And he kneels by her bed, carefully pulls his hair away and tilts his head to show his neck, dropping his eyes before her. "I am sorry. And I will do better from now on."

OoOoOoOoO

Three years later, Hinata's relationship with her father is still imperfect, but also still improving (over a decade of problems and abuse take time to solve, even under Tsume Inuzuka's watchful eye). That the improvement is acceptably steady is a reassurance, but she still will not move back into the Hyuuga compound, no matter how much she knows he would like her to. Sometimes she gets the sense that her continued refusal on this matter makes him proud, and she doesn't quite know how to feel about that. It helps that Neji supports her choice with the same casual certainty he once used against her.

"The compound is like a cage for you," he says calmly when she asks why she has his support so thoroughly in this, "No one should have to live in a cage."

When Hinata was small, she had wished her cousin didn't hate her so much, that she could be more like him, that they could be allies.

She had never thought that they could be friends.

But somehow that is what they have become, in the wake of Neji's fight with Naruto, of her father's talk with Neji, of the awkward months after the exams and invasion were over of trying to figure out what they were to each other without hate and fear, doubt and 'destiny' standing between them. At seventeen, her cousin has truly become one of her 'precious people,' as Naruto would say, and the knowledge is still warm in her heart. Many subs her age would be upset if they noticed one of their dom relatives spying on them during a date, and perhaps in time the phenomena will become wearing. For now though, it is with a smile that she waves good-bye to Naruto, and then walks around the corner with a smile for the occupants behind it.

"Did you have a good time?"

Neji doesn't bother pretending he's doing something else, especially since he had spotted her spotting him earlier. "He needs to work on his awareness of his surroundings more," he states, "But otherwise… he seems to be treating you well, even if his tastes are… odd."

Hinata giggles and can't help fingering the new braided collar Naruto had made her – wild grass with fluffy seed-heads this time. It _is_ a little strange looking, but she can't find it in herself to find fault with it, not when he makes a new one for each date they go on. (For the next one, she's planning to show him the patch of forest where she likes to gather violets (violets are good for braiding (while making Naruto a collar (even if he would likely wear it) feels… uncomfortable, a crown of them would look bold against his yellow hair))). "Thank-you. And thank-you for-"

"THERE you are!"

The familiar voice cuts in, followed shortly by Hanabi, who runs up to them, bracing her hands on her knees when she finally stops.

"That was… no fair," she pants, glaring at Neji through her hair, "No fair… hiring my genin team… so you could spy… _without_ me!"

"As a member of the branch family, it's my duty to protect the main family," Neji replies without a lick of remorse.

"Not from… me!"

"You would have interfered, and your reconnaissance skills aren't good enough yet," he counters, "The objective was to observe, not ruin Hinata's date."

"He's still not good enough for her!" Hanabi shoots back, breath finally caught, only to find her head being forced back towards the street.

"Be respectful – Naruto has been key in saving the village on multiple occasions," Neji reprimands, "And he is behaving very politely towards your sister."

Hanabi squirms and manages to break Neji's hold, scowling at him, "I _know_ all that! But he's still a genin! He has to be at _least_ be a chunin before I accept him as worthy of Hinata!"

"Hinata is capable of making her own decisions."

" _Hinata_ is a Hyuuga princess!"

Neji flashes her a quick smile over Hanabi's head, "More like dog hair princess."

There's no point in arguing that one – living with three Inuzuka and four ninken means that at least a light dusting of dog hair is pretty inevitable. After three years she doesn't mind and, more importantly, Neji knows she doesn't mind. That this is a perfectly acceptable thing to tease her about. In regards to her younger sister, though, "Don't tease her too much, Neji, she's only little."

"I AM ALMOST THIRTEEN!" Hanabi snaps with the indignation of those who aren't yet teenagers, but really wish they were, "And I'm going to be the next head of our clan and fix it so it's _better_ , so I should get some respect, too!"

Many subs would be indignant at being so openly spied on during a date. Many in general would be offended at their boyfriend being deemed 'not good enough' in the eyes of their family.

Hinata is not most people. She is still adjusting to having a family that cares, that looks in on her out of concern and thinks she is worth the best that can be had. Maybe one day it will become confining, and, when that day comes, she will tell them, but for now?

For now, she would much rather tell them about her date.

(And defend her boyfriend a little, because it hadn't been his fault he wasn't been able to attend the last chunin exams.)

OoOoOoOoO

 _The four noble clans of Konoha (according to the internet): Hyuuga, Akimichi, Aburame, Uchiha._


End file.
